America’s Most Wanted
Overview Network: FoxTV (ended in June 2011) and LifeTime (began September 2011) First Episode: April 10, 1988 Last Episode: March 2013 Status: Cancelled Cast: * John Walsh - Host History Details: America's Most Wanted was the first public service television series to appeal to the public for help in solving cold police cases and in locating fugitives from justice. Although Unsolved Mysteries predates it as a January 20, 1987 special, it is the first series to work with the cooperation of the police, government and law enforcement officials. It was created by human and victim rights activist John Walsh after the abduction of his six-year son, Adam, who had been kidnapped and murdered. Episodes featured anywhere from five to eight cases per episode which were profiled and recreated by actors and included interviews with friends and family members of victims, the local police and witnesses. On occasion, the actors involved in the recreations were sometimes confused with the fugitives. As popularity of the show increased, Walsh began extended the range of the show to also assist local authorities in locating missing persons, particularly the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, and recurring awards to members of the law and rescue organizations for conduct well and above the call of duty. Walsh also became supporter of the Missing Children Act known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act to protect the rights of children and promise quick police reaction in the disappearance of children. Despite it's popularity, AMW was briefly cancelled for a month and a half in fall 1996 in the wake of high production costs, but protests from politicians, law enforcement officials and viewers successfully prompted Fox to reinstate it. Fifteen years, later, on May 16, 2011, Fox successfully canceled it with the last regular episode airing on June 18, 2011, although the network relegated it to a limited series of specials. However, it returned as a regular weekly series on Lifetime on December 2, 2011. The last original episode aired on October 12, 2012 before it was officially canceled by Lifetime in March 2013. The series, The Hunt with John Walsh, and In Pursuit with John Walsh, are often considered successors to AMW. Links: * ''America's Most Wanted'' on Wikipedia Episodes America's Most Wanted shares the following cases with Unsolved Mysteries. Wanted Fugitives * Mark Adams * John Addis * Michael Alfonso * David Alex Alvarez * Richard Bare * Gregory Barker * Jerome Alan Bargo * Lance Bedgood * Brad Bishop * Richard Bocklage * Jerry Lee Bowen * Rickey Bright * Whitey Bulger * Jim Burnside * Rufino Castaneda * Larry Chism * Richard Church * Leo Cisneros * Astarte Davis * David Davis * Regina and Margaret Defrancisco * Reggie DePalma * Randolph Dial * Edmonton Rapist * Carl Alfred Eder * Adam Emery * John Feiga * William Fischer * Robert Fisher * Albert Leon Fletcher * Margo Freshwater * Wardell Ford * Armando Garcia * Larry George * Victor Gerena * Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter * Jerry Gervasoni * Alan Golder * Malaika Griffin * John Hawkins * Hazel Head * William Eugene Hilliard * Jesse James Hollywood * Interstate 70 Killer * Jonathan Kern * James Donald King * Ann Kibalo * Leo Koury * Laura Law * Robert Litchfield * Arthur Lopez Jr. * Mario Lozano * Melvin Edward Mays * Kenneth McDuff * Michael McGuffey * Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers * Steven Oliver * Elizabeth Ortiz * Desiree Perkins * Craig Pritchert and Nova Guthrie * Leslie Isben Rogge * Frederick Russell * Gloria Schulze * Raymond Scoville * Stryder Styarfyr * Michael Swango * Tyrom Theis * Wallace Thrasher * The Unabomber * Randall Utterback * Clayton Waagner * Gordon Weaver * Donald Eugene Webb * Steve Wilson * Sam Wodke * Zodiac Killer Missing Persons and Unsolved Murders * Richard Aderson * Jill Behrman * Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman * Amy Billig * Molly Bish * The Black Dahlia * Amy Bradley * Tara Calico * Elizabeth Campbell * Rachel Cooke * Jesus De La Cruz * Danny and Kathy Freeman * Miranda Gaddis and Ashley Pond * Michaela Garecht * Lance Guevarra * Leticia Hernandez * Equilla Hodrick * Jodi Huisentruit * Lauren Jackson * Samantha Kibalo * Las Cruces Bowling Alley Massacre * Chandra Levy * Amy Mihaljevic * Christine Mirzayan * Kristen Modafferi * Mary Morris and Mary Morris * Jessyca Mullenberg * Morgan Nick * Jonathan Ortiz * Bobbi Parker * John Spira * Mickey and Trudy Thompson * Debi Whitlock * Christopher and Lisa Zaharias * Mia Zapata Other Cases The majority of cases listed in this section only appeared on ''America's Most Wanted only unless otherwise stated'' * Captain D's Murders * Jaycee Dugard * Natalee Holloway * Tony Luzio * Madeleine McCann * Richard McNair (Profiled on AMW after his April 2006 escape, after the cancellation of Unsolved Mysteries) * Lisa Myers (Profiled on Unsolved Mysteries; Family attempted to have her case featured on AMW) * Stanley Obas * Bianca Noel Piper * Jameika Porch (Profiled on AMW; References to being profiled on Unsolved Mysteries may be erroneous) * Tabitha Tuders ---- Category:TV Series